To meet demand, Uber inks partnerships in 6 US cities to cut car ownership costs for its drivers

Uber’s driver-for-hire service, which lets you beckon a classy car with a few clicks of your smartphone, has been expanding wildly in recent times and is now available in dozens of cities across 22 countries.

To keep up with this momentum, Uber needs to get more cars out on the streets to meet demand — and it has inked partnerships with auto manufacturers including GM and Toyota, as well as an auto financing company to make sure that qualified drivers receive better financing rates to purchase their cars, Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick tells TechCrunch.

Kalanick says drivers may save about $100 to $200 on monthly payments with its program, which is now on trial in six US cities, where apparently Uber sees “particularly high demand” for its service. These cities are New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco.

Kalanick is said to be keen to expand this program “rapidly” over the next one to two years, possibly benefiting hundreds of thousands of drivers during that period.